Rice professor struck, killed by METRO light rail train

HOUSTON -- A Rice professor on a bicycle was killed when she was struck and possibly run over by a METRO light rail train Friday morning.

It happened around 8:30 a.m. along Fannin at Sunset, not far from Hermann Park and the Houston Zoo.

Views from Air 11 showed the woman's bike was stuck between a platform and the train. Officials were looking under the train as part of the investigation.

The victim was later identified by Rice as Marjorie Corcoran.

"We write to share the very sad news that a beloved member of our faculty, Marjorie Corcoran, was killed today when a light-rail train struck her while she was bicycling across the tracks on Fannin Street," Rice said in a statement. "Marjorie was a much-admired longtime professor of physics and astronomy, who worked tirelessly on behalf of her students, Rice, and STEM education. She served as the first speaker of Rice’s Faculty Senate when it was formed in 2005."

Corcoran is survived by her husband and three children.

Rail service was shut down in the area for a couple hours, so METRO officials bridged the service gap with buses.